Thursday, May 15, 2003

Observation:

When you show up at 9:15 instead of 7:30 on your second-to-last day, no one notices. Except for your coworker, who politely thanks you for ‘dropping by.’

This doesn’t normally happen:

Part of my agreement to hang around for an extra week was that I got yesterday off for my Contracts final. I went downtown early, getting to school at 11. I had some administrative stuff to take care of, so I did that, and finished around 11:30. My choice at that point was to just eat, or study for a bit and then eat. Rather than have to pack up once I’d unpacked, I chose to eat.

So there I was sitting in Grillers at a long table, (which really was three tables for two put together) studying for my Contracts final. When I first got there, it was fairly empty, but then the crowd started to show up. There was a woman seated at a single table for two against the window to my left, her back to me. Presently, she asked if she could share, because she was right by a heater, and she was hot. Being the nice guy I am, I said sure. Within minutes, she’d engaged me in conversation. An hour later, she left, and I had a phone number in my notebook. This will be interesting.

The rest of the day was not nearly as interesting. The Contracts final was not as comprehensive or terrible as it could have been, and I was glad I’d devoted so much time to studying. The downside to sitting for six hours, though, is that my back is still killing me today. I feel…forty.

Afterward, we went out for a few drinks, which led to us closing one bar, then another, and we were well on our way to a third when I pulled the ripcord and bailed. It was 2 am, and I had to be at work in five hours to train my replacements. When I finally crawled into bed an hour and fifteen minutes later, I was wondering how or if I’d hear the alarm at 6:30. I didn’t.

I jumped out of bed, called M. and apologized for being late. I swore I’d be there shortly, and fell like crap for being late. As it turned out, it was all for naught, as M. didn’t make it in, and I spent the day just futzing around.

Tomorrow is my last day, and I’m not really up for packing up the desk. Maybe I’ll go in real early and do it.